Looks like a good build, only thing missing is some sort of wifi adapter if you dont want to/can't use ethernet, speakers/headphones if you don't already have them, a mouse+keyboard if you don't have them, and an OS if you don't already own one and are against pirating it.

If you can budget it, with that GPU I'd try and get a 27" 1440p IPS (or PLS) monitor like this or this. You can get them for ~$300US+tax and import fees with free shipping off ebay from sellers in South Korea. You can spend extra to get a perfect pixel guarantee if you're worried about stuck pixels, but depending on the seller it might or might not guarantee 0 stuck pixels, so do some research on their guarantees before buying one, and it probably isn't worth it. Their image quality and viewing angles are way better than on TN panels, and jagged edges in games are less noticeable due to there being more pixels to render the scene on.

edit: They use LG IPS or Samsung PLS displays that are the same ones that Apple, Asus, Dell, etc. get from them, just A- quality vs the A or A+ quality, and then use a cheap stand, casing and a bypass board which limits it to DVI-D, works with all modern GPU's, just not integrated (their compatibility listing is usually outdated on the listing).

Yeah those are gonna be thrown in as well, was just listing the major parts. Oh, and the power supply was already ordered and has arrived same with the operating system. Motherboard and RAM are on their way. I realize its gonna be a bit more pricey, since Im coming from a laptop, so Im expecting anywhere from an extra 300-375$ for a monitor and keyboard. But I think in the long run this desktop will be worth it rather than dumping another 2500$ every 3 years on a new laptop.

I feel like the coalescence of gaming buzzwords here is terrifying. I dunno about anyone else, but when someone tacks on that many buzzwords, it normally means they're trying to draw your attention away from something else. Like, say, the inability to run two cards in CrossfireX / SLI in x16 slots because it doesn't have sufficient PCIe expansion slots. At the end of the day, no matter how many gaming buzzwords you tack onto something, if the Intel chipset doesn't end in a "9", it isn't an enthusiast chipset intended for gaming. It's probably more powerful than something you'd pick up in a prebuilt HP, but it isn't something that I'd tack the phrase "Extreme Overclock High Performance" to. And the idea of running three cards in CrossfireX or SLI when it only has three expansion slots, which (when all in use) run at x8/x4/x4 is laughable. They're basically saying "look at us, we have the physical space to fit three cards!"

So let's start from the ground up. NewEgg sells the MSI Z87-GD65 for about $165. They sell the MSI X99S for $230 and up. So far, we've lost $65.

Since the X99 motherboard is socketed for LGA 2011-v3, we'll need to look for a different card. The i7-4790K goes on NewEgg for about $340. The i7-5820K goes for $380. However, in a benchmark, the latter performs about 17% better than the former. That's a pretty significant gain for $40.

The real reason we go with an X99 motherboard is to take full advantage of DDR4 memory, so let's take a look at that. The Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3 2400 kit goes for about $85 on NewEgg. And DDR4 is all designed to run quad-channel, so the lowest it's typically sold in is 16GB (4 x 4GB). The Ripjaws 4 Series 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR4 2400 kit is about $260. That's a pretty big jump (increase of $175), but you're getting significantly better performance here.

The GTX 970 is so new that I can't find any good benchmarks of it, which makes it really hard to compare to other GeForce chipsets, let alone Radeon chipsets. What I do know is that, while Radeon cards beat the absolute shit out of GeForce cards when it comes to price per performance, Nvidia recently rolled out G-sync, while AMD's Free-sync will not be releasing until next year. What this means is that the absolute top-of-the-line monitors all require an Nvidia card right now. Of course, Nvidia's G-sync is all proprietary, so those monitors are significantly marked up, while AMD is giving out Free-sync, like the name intends, for free (and is releasing drivers for the Radeon R9 29x series to support it).

What I'm trying to say is I don't really care for Nvidia. AMD offers better pricing for what you're getting. The R9 290x2 that I have normally costs $1600 (though I snagged it for $1000 during a sale), and it performs on par with, if not outperforms, the GTX Titan Z, which costs $3000. So unless you're planning on getting a fancy monitor here and now, I'd recommend an R9 290, which is going for $370 (for reference, that's the same price the model of GTX 970 you mentioned goes for on NewEgg). Then, four months from now, you get an equivalent technology as G-sync for free in a driver update, and the monitors that support it are significantly cheaper because the manufacturers didn't have to pay to support the technology.

Sadly, cases are one of the few areas that I don't have a lot of expertise, because what makes a good case is not something that's often listed in the specifications. It's the little things, like the way the fan screw holes were designed, or where the side-mounted fan is placed, or where the 3.5" internal drive bays are placed, or how much space under the back panel there is for wires to realistically fit. I love my NZXT Phantom case, but all four of those things are shortcomings that I've encountered. Because the screw holes are indented, the washers that came with my liquid-cooled radiator don't fit, but the holes are so big that the screws without washers were liable to go right through. The side-mounted 200mm fan is positioned in such a way that the case won't close now that I have a liquid-cooled radiator, which comes out from the back of the case further than a standard fan. If the side-mounted fan had been positioned an inch to the right, everything would fit fine. The 3.5" internal drive bays are frustratingly close to the PSU, which makes it very difficult to work with the cables therein, especially in a modular PSU like the one I'm using. Finally, there isn't a lot of space under the back panel, and so it is hard to close the back of the case up when I have to rewire stuff. But none of these things were things I could tell until I opened up the case and worked with it. My roommate Reid has a Corsair 750D, and it has its own quirks. You really learn more about cases by having a bunch of them.

Ascendant Justice wrote:Thoughts and/or recommendations?

All in all, the price for the system I outlined is about $1525, with most of the price increase coming from the RAM.

Elabajaba wrote:Looks like a good build, only thing missing is some sort of wifi adapter if you dont want to/can't use ethernet,

Eh, if he's using this for gaming, he'd better be using an Ethernet connection.

Ascendant Justice wrote:Oh, and the power supply was already ordered and has arrived same with the operating system.

May I ask what you ordered? I'm hoping 850+ Watts on the PSU, and some version of Windows 7 or Windows 8.1 for the OS.

@Rot, that's definitely an...interesting analysis. Unfortunately yeah, I have ordered a couple major componants already, but hey, in the future upgrades are possible. The real reason Im going for a NVidia card is just cause im used to them overall. Im sure AMD DOES produce better cost/performance cards its just a personal preference as of now. Honestly the only thing im worried about right now is whether or not that 16" graphics card will fit in the case.

Tomorrow im going to a shop to see if they'll show me that case out of the box so Ill know for sure and if it appears to fit, ill probably go ahead and buy the case on the spot, then go hunt down a monitor and keyboard.